For instance, from German Patent Application No. 195 34 445, an outwardly opening fuel injector is known which has a conical sealing seat. The valve needle has a central bore which leads into a pressure chamber located upstream from the sealing seat. An actuator, which is embodied as a piezoelectric actuator, on one side is braced against a nozzle body and on the other side against a pressure shoulder which is connected to the valve needle by force-locking. A restoring spring keeps the valve needle in a closing position. In response to the actuator being energized, the valve needle, due to the actuator's longitudinal expansion, is opened against the closing force of the restoring spring and fuel is spray-discharged.
Disadvantageous in the fuel injector known from German Patent No. 195 34 445 is, in particular, that the fuel jet injected into the combustion chamber of the internal combustion engine has a conical shape and is symmetrical to a longitudinal axis of the fuel injector. A slanted injection and an asymmetrical deformation of the conical jet, to compensate for a tight fitting position of the fuel injector, for instance, is not possible here.